Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Cam: Lessons to be learned on lobbying
» EX-PM ends silence at last » I broke no rules on Greensill
DAVID Cameron last night said there were “lessons to be learnt” over his role in the Greensill affair.
The former Tory PM finally spoke out after revelations that he took scandal-hit financier Lex Greensill for a “private drink” with Health Secretary Matt Hancock to discuss a payment scheme later rolled out in the NHS. He also said he should have gone through “only the most formal channels” after it was disclosed he had texted Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
It emerged Mr Cameron also spoke to Financial Secretary Jesse Norman and Exchequer Secretary John Glen in addition to Mr Sunak about the firm, which collapsed this year.
The ex-premier was said to have described as “nuts” a decision to exclude Greensill from a huge loan scheme to help businesses. He messaged a senior adviser to No10 hours after the Treasury rejected Greensill.
“What we need is for Rishi to have a good look at this and ask officials to find a way of making it work,” Mr Cameron wrote last year.
Last night Mr Cameron said in a statement: “Concern has been raised about the nature of my contact, via text message and email. I understand that concern, but it was a time of crisis with fears about businesses’ access to credit.
“Greensill Capital wanted to offer a legitimate proposal to help with this.” He insisted he “was breaking no codes of conduct and no government rules”.
But he added: “However there are important lessons to be learnt. As a former Prime Minister, I accept that communications with government need to be through only the most formal of channels.
“I sincerely believed there would be a material benefit for UK businesses.”
He said he met Mr Greensill twice as PM, but never considered working for him “until well after I left office”.
He became a part-time adviser to Greensill in August 2018 and dismissed claims that he had boasted of share options worth £43million.
NHS SBS, a venture between the Department of Health and a French IT firm, announced last October that Earnd, a mobile app then a division of Greensill, would be available free to NHS employees to access their pay.
Mr Hancock referred Mr Greensill to work directly with the NHS rather than his department. “Matt acted in entirely the correct way,” a friend said.
What we need is for Rishi to have a good look at this... DAVID CAMERON AFTER GREENSILL LOAN REBUFF